Wood nettle gall midge
The wood nettle gall midge is a tiny fly. Its larvae make the wood nettle plant grow little round lumps called galls. Each gall is a cosy home and pantry for a larva.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its galls can grow on the leaves, the leaf stalks, the stem and even the flowers of the wood nettle.
The galls are about 1 centimetre long and can be pale, red, white or see-through green.
There are two families of these midges every year. The larvae from autumn spend the whole winter snug inside their gall.
Scientists only described it in 2016.
Most asked questions about Wood nettle gall midge
?What is a gall?
A gall is a lump that a plant grows when a tiny insect lives in it. The larva lives and eats inside it.
?Is the wood nettle gall midge harmful?
No. It is a tiny fly that does not bite or sting.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dasineura investita
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Cecidomyiidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Cecidomyiidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Dasineura investita (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by raffib128. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Housefly
New World screwworm fly
Lovebug
Tsetse fly
Common fruit fly
Asian tiger mosquito
Black pine sawyer beetle
Black-bellied hornet
Leather beetle
Darwin's beetle
Jet ant
Woodland giant wolf spider